Nine ranks of rank - Kyuhinchusei

This system of appointing people to official positions was used in China from the beginning of the Wei dynasty of the Three Kingdoms to the beginning of the Sui dynasty (220-582). It is also called the Nine Ranks of Officials System. The Wei dynasty divided government positions into ranks (official ranks) from rank 1 to rank 9, and determined treatment according to official rank. Next, an official called Zhongzheng was established in each prefecture and county, and the Zhongzheng examined the virtue and talent of young men who wanted to be appointed to official positions within their jurisdiction, and assigned ranks from rank 1 to rank 9 (town ranks) and prepared a report. When the government recruits officials, they are generally first appointed to official ranks four ranks lower than town ranks, and this is called kika. For example, a town rank 2 person can kika as a sixth rank official. If they are promoted and their official rank matches their town rank, they cannot be promoted any higher. However, Zhongzheng was obliged to constantly monitor the conduct of officials after they had established their family and to revise their reports if necessary. This law was proposed by the Minister of State, Chen Gong, and aimed to appoint officials based on their personal talents and virtues, without being influenced by personal favor, but in reality it had the opposite effect. In other words, all the children of influential people were assessed as having the second rank of township rank, which became a vested right for the family, creating a huge gap between them and the cold and shy people who did not reach this rank. Next, a difference in rank also arose among the two ranks of the family, and even within the same official rank, there was a distinction between the pure official who was given to the upper class and the turbid official who was given to the lower class. As a result, the government's Personnel Bureau (Personnel Department) began to recite the genealogy of the aristocracy and award officials according to the family rank, and this type of aristocratic system reached its peak during the Song and Qi dynasties of the Southern Dynasties. It gradually declined thereafter, and the Nine Ranks of Officials System was abolished by Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, and the Imperial Examination System was used instead. However, the official rank system continued to be practiced until the end of the Qing Dynasty, and was imported into Japan.

[Miyazaki City]

"A Study of the Nine Ranks of Officials Law" by Miyazaki Ichijo (1956, Kyoto University Oriental History Research Society)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

九品によって人を官につける法という意味で、中国で三国の魏(ぎ)の初めから隋(ずい)の初期まで（220～582）行われた官吏登用制度。九品官人法ともいわれる。魏は政府の官職を一品から九品までの等級（官品）に分かち、官品に従って待遇を定めた。次に地方の州・郡に中正という官を設け、中正は管内の任官志望の青年につき、その徳行、才能を審査し、一品から九品までの等級（郷品(きょうひん)）をつけ内申書を作成した。政府が官吏を採用するにはおおむね郷品より四等下がった官位に初任し、これを起家(きか)という。たとえば郷品二品の者は六品官で起家する。それから昇進して官品が郷品と一致すると、それ以上に上がることができない。ただし、中正は起家後の官吏の品行を絶えず監視し、必要あれば内申書を訂正する義務がある。この法は尚書の陳羣(ちんぐん)の建議によったもので、情実に左右されず、個人の才徳によって官吏を登用することを目的としたが、現実には反対の結果を招いた。すなわち、有力者の子弟はすべて郷品二品と査定され、それがその家の既得権と化し、これに及ばない寒士との間に大きな断絶を生じた。次に家格二品のなかにも上下の差ができ、同一官品のなかでも上流者のつく清官と下流者のつく濁官との別が生じた。そこで政府の人事院（吏部）では貴族の系譜をそらんじて家格に従って官を与えるのが例となり、このような貴族制度は南朝の宋(そう)・斉(せい)のころが絶頂であった。以後しだいに衰え、隋の文帝によって九品官人法が廃止され、かわって科挙が用いられた。ただ官品制は引き続き清(しん)朝末まで行われ、日本にも輸入された。

［宮崎市定］

『宮崎市定著『九品官人法の研究』（1956・京都大学東洋史研究会）』

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